Have you ever actually taken the time to calculate how much of your life surrounds work? Well how would you feel if I told you that nearly half of your adult life will be consumed by work?
Generally speaking, most studies indicate that you’ll spend one third of your life working. Here at The Career Conqueror ® consider additional factors when calculating how much time you spend at work by focusing on aspects of your work day that contribute to your work-related stress as part of your workday. For example, depending on whether or not you live or commute to a major U.S city, your commute alone increases this general statistic by up to ten percent. In New York City it can take two and half hours just to make it from one side of town to the other. Now imagine having to make that commute to and from work daily? Another factor that is considered is mandatory overtime, which became a growing trend during the pandemic. Many industries are forced to mandate overtime just to function in somewhat of a normal fashion. Overtime adds an additional eight to ten percent to the general statistic. With all of that being said, you’re now spending over half of your time at work and/or commuting.
Now let’s consider something else. If you hate your job, or if you feel miserable at work, and just about half of your time is surrounds your work life, then that would mean that you’re spending nearly half to a little over half of your life being miserable, stressed out, or unhappy due to work related stress. If we take things back to 2019 then setting a goal to achieve work-life balance by reevaluating your career goals, finding a new job, or defining your boundaries, may have been enough to resolve work related stress. Fast forward to present day where you’ll find many people who are feeling hopeless.
Remote work is the new normal. Students have converted to remote, and hybrid learning experiences. Working from home is much more common. With all these changes that unexpectedly have forced us to quickly adapt, the line separating your personal life from your professional life is blurred. Many are left wondering if work-life balance is even possible anymore.
The bad news is that for now, work-life balance as you know it may not be possible for now. The good news though is that it’s not gone, and dead forever. The traditional definition of work-life balance has been forced to pivot just as we’ve had to do.
If you’ve been feeling like work-life balance is no longer achievable, and you would like to regain a sense of stability when everything around you feels chaotic then start by disrupting the status quo. Instead of hanging on to the traditional definition f work-life balance, tweak it to suit your current needs.
Traditionally work-life balance focuses on your ability to divide your time reasonably and adequately in and outside of the workplace. However, what happens when your work life and your home life merge? If you’re working remotely for the summer while your children also happen to be attending summer school remotely, or if they’re stuck in the house for the entire summer, then work-life balance for you may focus more on finding a way to divide your work hours between getting your job done, and monitoring your children, and less about finding time after work hours to tend to your family. If work-life balance used to mean being able to take multiple vacations, and you’re not up for traveling until everything dies down then ask yourself what else can you do in place of traveling. Then evaluate your job or career based on this new goal.
If you’re wondering what you should do if neither remote work nor tending to your family is your issue, the answer is that you still follow the formula. Cater the definition of work-life balance to our own needs. If a toxic work environment, or sense of unfulfillment is the root of your problem then your solution may require a new job or career path.
Work-life balance is not dead, it’s been rebirthed! It’s up to you not to stand defeated. Find comfort in knowing that this isn’t the first time that the world has had to adjust, and it won’t be the last. Remember that it wasn’t that long ago when women were housewives, and men were the bread winners. Look at us now, Superwomen, thriving in our careers, while tending to our families, and we do it all without complaining no matter how heavy the weight may feel to bare. It may feel impossible to get back on your feet right now but do understand that no season lasts forever. One day you will look back on this year and last and tell yourself that you didn’t know that you had it in you to come out on top!